Missouri Life: Print-First in a Digital World
How we helped Missouri's iconic magazine reclaim its identity through comprehensive brand strategy and design refresh.
Missouri Life came to us at a turning point. After nearly 50 years as Missouri's premier state magazine, they faced a challenge familiar to many legacy brands: their audience was deeply loyal, their content remained excellent, but their brand felt "old."
The Challenge
Brand perceived as dated despite strong reader loyalty
Inconsistent design guidelines limiting scalability
Fragmented visual identity across platforms
Lack of comprehensive brand framework for decision-making
The Deeper Truth: Missouri Life had incredible strengths—firsthand storytelling, depth over speed, the tactile beauty of print. But they'd lost the cohesive framework to consistently communicate these differentiators.
Project Details
Industry: Publishing / Regional Media
What We Did: Brand Heart, Brand Positioning, Visual Identity Refresh, Brand Guidelines, Magazine Redesign
Key Deliverable: Coined "print-first" as ownable market position and design philosophy
Result: Strategic framework positioning Missouri Life as print champions while enabling multi-media expansion
Our Approach: The Brand Being Method
We applied Hoot's proprietary Brand Being Method™—the philosophy that Brand is the Being (who you are) and Marketing is the Doing (how you express it and drive revenue). This culture-driven approach builds brands from the inside out, ensuring authentic alignment between who you are and how you show up in the world.
What We Discovered
The Identity Opportunity Missouri itself lacks a singular identity—it's southern, northern, eastern, and western. Rather than fight this, Missouri Life could embrace it: helping Missourians discover the extraordinary in their own diverse backyard.
The Real Mission Through our discovery conversations, a core truth emerged from the publisher: "I keep going back to what we want the reader to feel, and it really is pride of place... being proud of this place we call home."
The Loyalty Signal With 75% of readers paying full price (versus competitors at 25%), Missouri Life commanded premium loyalty. Readers kept issues for months and viewed the magazine as "content worth keeping, not just consuming."
The Print Advantage While competitors pivoted to digital, Missouri Life's commitment to beautiful, tactile print created an increasingly rare respite from screens—a position that would only grow stronger.
Brand Highlights
The "Print-First" Positioning
Coining this new concept helped Missouri Life own their space: print-first. In doing so, we established a clear point of difference and priority for their work.
This positioning gave them permission to expand into other media while maintaining their identity. Everything—video, digital, audio—would be guided by the same editorial rigor and commitment to quality that defined their core product.
Point of Difference: Three key pillars set them apart:
Firsthand experience over secondhand information
Timeless over trendy
Depth over speed
Brand Manifesto
Missouri has been waiting for you to pay attention.
We believe every town has a story that could change how you see the world, if you're curious enough to ask.
We believe the best discoveries happen when you slow down.
We believe print still matters because stories are worth holding, worth keeping, worth coming back to.
We believe knowing where you're from unlocks who you are.
We believe Missouri doesn't need to prove itself to anyone—but it deserves to be celebrated by the people who call it home.
We believe in the power of discovering the beauty around you.
This is Missouri Life.
Visual Identity
Our visual system honored Missouri Life's legacy while signaling evolution. Working with their transition to a wider format, we created a design system that could only belong to them.
Brand Tension Point: We used "Elegant Kitsch" as our guide —the art of applying refined taste to subjects many would consider ordinary. Well-crafted and thoughtful, yet not afraid to be a little indulgent and have fun.
Magazine Redesign & Launch
With the brand strategy and design system in place, we partnered with Missouri Life to reimagine their full magazine experience—bringing their new identity to life across every page.
The Redesign Process
We worked closely with the Missouri Life team to translate the brand heart and visual identity into a complete magazine redesign. Every element—from cover treatments to department flags to photo styling—was carefully considered to embody their "Elegant Kitsch" brand tension point and print-first values.
The "Best Of" Launch
Missouri Life debuted their refreshed brand with a specialty "Best Of" issue, showcasing the new wider format and design system. This launch issue served as both a celebration of Missouri's finest and a powerful statement of the magazine's evolution—demonstrating that "old" could become iconic when expressed with clarity and craft.
The Impact: From Legacy to Leadership
Authentic Differentiation
No one gets to lean into a point of difference without bravery. Missouri Life chose courage and now owns a position no competitor can replicate: the champion of print, depth, and firsthand storytelling in an age of speed and superficiality. The fresh design in a wider format created immediate visual impact, signaling their evolution while honoring their heritage.
Cultural Clarity
With brand values, advocate, and manifesto in place, Missouri Life makes decisions from a place of confidence. Everything flows from understanding who they are and what they stand for—from editorial choices to partnership decisions to hiring.
Design Confidence
Comprehensive brand guidelines transformed a pain point into a superpower. The team now has a scalable system supporting expansion across web series, custom publishing, and retail while maintaining consistent quality.
Strategic Framework
Beyond visual updates, we provided Missouri Life with a north star for navigation—a clear framework for evaluating opportunities, communicating value to advertisers, and making growth decisions.
Ready to Rediscover Your Brand's True Identity?
At Hoot Design Company, we believe the most powerful brands don't reinvent themselves—they rediscover who they've always been and express it with unprecedented clarity.